The 3 Keys to Building Donor Relationships

The 3 Keys to Building Donor Relationships

Show your donors what it’s like to be part of your organization by building donor relationships.

The key to building donor relationships are to establish 3 simple principles:

Know

Like

Trust

Do your donors know who you are – do they know what your organization represents? Has your organization established brand awareness? Do your donors know what it’s like to participate in your organization? Do they know what it’s like to take part in your mission and your vision?

This is where the big questions come in: Do they like your organization? Aside from recognizing your organization, do they remember your organization? Do they look forward to your events and do they plan on participating in your volunteer opportunities? Do they engage with you online?

And, the bigger questions: Do the donors trust you? When they give to your organization, do they have confidence that your organization is responsible and accountable when dealing with donations? Does your organization show transparency where the funds were allocated?

Once you have established the Know, Like and Trust principles, you can then create a fundraising system where you take your donors through a path showing them what it is like to be a part of your organization.

Once you get your lead generation and nurturing system in alignment with your website, donor management and marketing, you will find that the elements of your fundraising system enable you to understand and interact with your prospects much better.

For instance, you can study your donors movements through your marketing collateral and find ways to introduce members of your community to your programs. Perhaps, you can find a portion of the website where there is interest from people new to your community where you can set up an email opt-in form, leading to an email nurturing sequence upon signing up for your newsletter or requesting more information, and, thus, leading to building donor relationships.

The success of your fundraising system is directly related to the level of Know, Like and Trust you’ve established. So if your audience clearly understand and identifies with your organization’s mission and vision, interacts with you and trusts you, you will find that it is much easier to develop ways to strengthen your relationship with your community members and spark more interest in your campaigns by building donor relationships.

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